COVID-19

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  2/24/2021
  

  Many Black Americans Aren’t Rushing to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine – A Long History of Medical Abuse Suggests Why

  by Esther Jones

  From J. Marion Sims to the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments to the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks' DNA, there are ample historical reasons for Black Americans to feel that medical authorities are unconcerned with their safety and mistrust new COVID vaccines. Acknowledging this history is essential for public health authorities to gain trust. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  2/22/2021
  

  We’re Just Rediscovering a 19th-Century Pandemic Strategy

  by Sarah Zhang

  “We’ve gotten so good at preventing so many diseases, there’s been a loss of knowledge and a loss of experience,” Jeanne Kisacky, the author of Rise of the Modern Hospital, says.

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• SOURCE: Tropics of Meta
  2/19/2021
  

  The Current Republic of Suffering

  by Murray Browne

  Drew Gilpin Faust's "This Republic of Suffering" inspires reflection on how the collective experiences of COVID and the loss of a half million Americans may shape the society that emerges. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/23/2021
  

  Having Vaccines Alone isn’t Enough to Defeat COVID-19

  by Joyce Chaplin

  Early efforts at smallpox innoculation showed the importance of social and political factors in making new medical technologies effective. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/21/2021
  

  What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America

  by Anne Anlin Cheng

  Trump could not have rallied the kind of hatred that he did without this country’s long history of systemic and cultural racism against people of Asian descent.

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• 2/21/2021
  

  Who Deserves Credit for Inventing Vaccination? And Why Does it Matter Today?

  by John Rhodes

  Historical honesty requires acknowledging the African and Asian inoculation practices that preceded and enabled Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine. Telling this story more broadly might also encourage vulnerable communities of color to embrace the COVID vaccine.

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/12/2021
  

  Medical Racism has Shaped U.S. Policies for Centuries

  by Deirdre Cooper Owens

  Medical racism over centuries has "created a system of belief and practice that allowed doctors to place blame on Black people for not having the same health outcomes as White people."

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/16/2021
  

  Mardi Gras is a Critical American Tradition — Even Without Parades

  by Olivia Durand

  Mardi Gras rituals and public celebration have reflected the efforts of some white New Orleanians to establish and preserve white supremacy and the efforts of Black and Creole residents to express demands for freedom; the festivities are not just a party but "the active performance of what American society cares about."

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/15/2021
  

  They Survived the Holocaust. Now they’ve Come Together to Endure the Pandemic

  A Jewish historical institute in Vienna has worked to protect the health of vulnerable Holocaust survivors, but it's found the work of preserving social contact and sharing stories just as vital. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/13/2021
  

  With Mardi Gras Parades Canceled, Floats Find a New Home

  In a development unseen since the city's Mardi Gras begain in 1857, New Orleans residents under COVID lockdown are turning their houses into parade floats, an informal support program for artists missing the yearly boost the parade season brings. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  2/9/2021
  

  What’s at Stake in the Fight Over Reopening Schools

  by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

  In cities like Chicago, parents anxious to return children to school have blamed teachers' unions. The historian and New Yorker columnist argues that some proponents of reopening are using racial equity arguments in bad faith while ignoring the gross racial inequalities that characterized schooling-as-usual before the pandemic and the work of teachers' unions to fight it.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/6/2021
  

  Goodbye to the Cult of SoulCycle

  by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

  The attachment of deep spiritual meaning to commercialized exercise brands creates a climate ripe for abuse and exploitation, writes a historian of fitness culture. 

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• SOURCE: Medium
  2/8/2021
  

  The Difference Between a Great President and a Terrible One is Empathy

  by Lindsay Chervinsky

  "As President Trump begins his post-presidential life, Americans will start to reckon with his legacy. They need look no farther than his callous indifference to human life — his response to the crisis marks the ultimate failure of presidential leadership."

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  1/26/2021
  

  History Shows Americans Have Always Been Wary of Vaccines

  Medical historian Keith Wailoo addressed a recent Smithsonian webinar on the history of American hostility to vaccination, joining public health experts. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/1/2021
  

  The Key to Combating Conspiracy Theories about Coronavirus Vaccines

  by Cameron Givens

  Historical knowledge of the roots of misinformation about viruses and vaccination will be essential to overcoming it. 

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• SOURCE: Bartlett Annual Review
  1/28/2021
  

  How Will the Pandemic Shape the Future of Work?

  by Judy Stephenson

  The pandemic is exposing the historical contingency of "jobs" as opposed to "tasks" – as capital returns to a piecework model in the gig economy, the concept of job security is in danger of vanishing. 

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• SOURCE: ROAR
  1/23/2021
  

  Anything is Possible: Toward an Abolitionist Vision

  by Marc Lamont Hill

  Abolitionism is about more than dismantling prisons. It is also about building a world with universal access to safety, self-determination, freedom and dignity.

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  1/26/2021
  

  COVID-19 Dashboards are Vital, yet Flawed, Sources of Public Information

  by Jacqueline Wernimont

  "Public health dashboards, like our many COVID-19 dashboards, are unusual in the history of dashboards in that they share information but not in a way that allows ordinary people to take action."

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• SOURCE: The Week
  1/26/2021
  

  Democrats are getting Chuck Grassleyed

  The Senate negotiations over the Affordable Care Act and the 2009 Recovery Act are not ancient history. It remains to be seen if Senate Democrats can learn from them. 

• 
• SOURCE: Fortune
  1/17/2021
  

  The COVID-19 Vaccination Drive May be Slow—But it’s Already Faster than Any in History

  Public Health historian Jason Schwartz suggests that discontent about the pace of vaccination is due to the Trump administration's politically motivated and unrealistic promises.